Let It Rain
by I-Sort-of-Mean-It
Summary: "Aniki," Sasuke whispered, "What are you doing out here? You could get sick!"   The boy couldn't see it, but he could feel the slightest hint of a smile tug at the elder's lips. "I was just trying to wash it all away..."  "Wash what away?"  "Everything...


_An excerpt from my much longer ItaxSasu story, **Wash It All Away**. _

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><p><em>The rain poured down in torrents, with no end in sight…<br>Would it ever end…?_

The sky bemoaned its darkened state as rain spilled down in torrents. The precipitation had been a welcome blessing to Konoha, which had been devastated by an early summer drought. Most of the city's citizens were grateful to the gods for their precious gift, but Sasuke found it to be a nuisance. The young Uchiha heir had intended to go practices his techniques (hopefully with the gentle guidance of his dear older brother) but now had no way to, thanks to this terrible storm. And on top of all the rain, Itachi was nowhere to be found! Despite an excellent morning of good food and pleasant family time with his aunt and uncle, the child's day had quickly turned as dark as the blackened noon skies.

The young boy meandered down the halls of the great compound, dragging his little fingers across the thin walls as he went. Distantly, he could hear his mother padding around the kitchen, most likely making sweet Jasmine tea to warm her beloved family. The faint shuffling of papers indicated that his father, Fugaku, was seated in the same area, most likely filing reports on the military police's latest endeavors. Sasuke rounded the corner, just barely escaping their sight as he made his way to the bedrooms of the adjoining hallway. Thunder continued to reverberate through the angry clouds, almost masking the curious sounds emerging from Itachi's bedroom. With unbridled inquisitiveness, the onyx eyed child crept to his elder brother's door, placing his ear on the thin wall just next to it so as to prevent being caught by the seemingly omniscient older male.

He couldn't quite separate words from thunder, but to untrained little ears it almost sounded as if his brother was caught deep in some sort of meditation or prayer. It wasn't surprising by any means- the elder had an ethereal air about him, and if one were to watch they would find that most of his free time was spent staring at the heavens in deep unreadable thought. Still, this event piqued the boy's curiosity further; the little one couldn't stop himself from prying his dear elder's bedroom door just to catch a peek of what exactly was going on.

The raven haired boy became immediately alarmed at the sight of the open second door, the one that lead onto the veranda and into the storm. The wind and rain had swept into the house, making a mess of the elder's once pristine room. Books and papers had been tossed haphazardly by the sky's whimsical hands, and much of the tatami floor from Itachi's bed at the center of the room to the veranda had been lightly sprinkled with fresh rain. Thoughts of the worst nature plagued Sasuke's adolescent mind as he rushed into the expressly forbidden territory, jumping over books and other small trinkets as he cried out for his brother. He skidded to a halt at the edge of the young man's room and the veranda, undeniably stunned by the alien sight he had stumbled upon.

Itachi stood silent in the field overlooked by the Uchiha compound, almost as if he was unaware of the storm raging around him. The young man's gently marred face was turned up towards the clouds in some form of reverence, thin lips almost whispering prayers now. His soft black hair had escaped its usual ponytail to become one with the wind and rain, tossed about as fate had seen fit. The elder Uchiha was alone and cold, open to the elements in every sense of the term. Itachi's light skin was bare to the dramatic forces, without protection from even so much as sandals to adorn his feet. Harsh winds whipped passed his unclothed body as if trying to remove the lithe muscle from it. Rain pounded against his exposed skin, staining its flawless beauty in cruel, biting droplets. Despite the pain the young man remained unmoved, as if Mother Nature wasn't raging against him with all the mightiness and scorn she possessed. Instead, he continued in silent reverie, his prayers having been long lost along the path of the storm's unpredictable currents.

Sasuke grabbed the cloak from his brother's bed and rushed into the storm, fully intending to save his dearest elder from whatever forces had seized him. He paid no attention to the ruthless cold assaulting his tiny form while making way to his beloved aniki. With tiny arms and fumbling little fingers, the boy managed to get the cloak wrapped around the elder's body. Almost instinctively, Itachi drew the child in and shielded him with both fabric and form.

"Aniki," Sasuke whispered against the taut muscle of his stomach, "What are you doing out here? You could get sick!"  
>The boy couldn't see it, but he could practically feel the slightest hint of a smile tug at the elder's lips. "I was just trying to wash it all away…"<br>"Wash what away?" The boy mumbled, arms curling tightly around his beloved brother.  
>"Everything…" The young man replied with a whisper. Before the boy could get in another word, the elder swept him up and carried him back safely in the confines of the thick ANBU cloak. Once inside, Itachi slid both doors closed and quickly set to preparing a warm bath for Sasuke, who was shivering in the corner of the destroyed bedroom. Once the tub in the adjoining bathroom was filled sufficiently with hot water, he motioned for the boy to come soak away his chills.<br>"Nii_-_san_…_ When you said you wanted to wash everything away… Did you mean me too?"

The Uchiha heir's attention shifted from getting his dear younger sibling into the water. "Of course not you, Otouto." The elder quickly returned to his task, taking a washcloth in hand.  
>"Do you promise?" The boy whispered, voice breaking with genuine concern.<br>Itachi placed a soft kiss on the boy's forehead, "I promise, Sasuke," he murmured while scrubbing dirt from the child's cheeks.

Rain continued to fall in sheets, pounding against the walls of their compound. Thunder ran through the onyx eyed child, causing him to shudder violently in the warm water.  
>"Ne, Nii-san..."<br>"Yes, Otouto?"

The child took a deep breath, ready to proceed when lightning cracked over their window, causing him to jump. The ebony eyed elder quickly grabbed a towel and held it open to Sasuke, who made a swift dash out of the tub and into his brother's arms once more. There was so much warmth and comfort there that blocked out the downpour threatening them from outside.

"You never really told me why you were out there…" The young child proposed carefully, hoping his elder would give into the overt hinting. Instead, his brother continued drying him in silence, much to the little one's dismay.  
>"You said you wanted to wash everything away… but rain can't possibly wash away everything."<p>

The older male sighed as he collected the boy in his arms and carried him to his mattress.  
>"It can if you let it." He murmured, gently tucking his doll like sibling into bed. The child curled in the fabric, reveling in its softness and scent- in the way it mimicked Itachi's so perfectly.<br>"Even you, nii-san?"

The ANBU member smiled faintly, almost sadly as he replied, "_Especially_ me." The young child's innocent face contorted as if he had just experienced a great tragedy; his little brow knotted with deep lines.  
>"Not you, Itachi…" he cried, curling even further into the fabric, "Promised me you won't get washed away, Aniki."<p>

Itachi wanted desperately to reassure the boy, to promise him that he would be as constant as Amaterasu in the morning and Tsukuyomi at night- but he couldn't. He knew fate had other plans for the both of them. Desperately, the young man wished he could lie to this innocent little child before him, but something inside the war-hardened ANBU agent would not allow it.  
>"Sleep, Otouto" he murmured half-heartedly.<br>"No," Sasuke protested, taking hold of the elder's long calloused fingers, "Not until you promise me."

The elder's fury ignited- not at his beloved, but at himself; at fate, and the cruel tricks it played on his long-suffering soul. In a fit of rage the young man's eyes bled red with fire and age old, inherited sin. Sasuke immediately succumbed to their power, falling victim to a dark dreamless sleep.

All at once Itachi felt the guilt and pain of using his Mangekyo Sharingan on someone he cared for so much, and for just a moment he wondered if he would be able to do such a wretched thing again in the future. The perfect, doll-like form of his younger brother lay before him, and something about it rattled the best and worst parts of his core being. He could not stand to be in the child's presence for much longer, lest he break. The elder stepped away from the boy's seemingly lifeless body and slipped into his clothes as he tried to compose himself. Just as the damp fabric of a shirt slid over his raven black hair, the door opened.

Fugaku's eyes darted between his two sons. The elder had just finished slipping on his clothing, while the younger was curled up in his bed, obviously covered in little more than towels and blankets. The situation was odd at best, and sadly not something the hard-edged leader of Konoha's police force wasn't used to seeing. With quick, decisive movements the man took his eldest son by the scruff of the neck and dragged him from the room, tossing him against the wall.

It wasn't a mystery as to why his traitorous father was angry- Itachi was well aware of how suspicious the whole scene must have looked. And while he knew he probably should have clarified things for the man, he remained silent, intent to allow Fugaku to release all of his anger and hatred on him. The young man felt deserving of such punishment anyway- for what he had done, for what he had considered (and was accused of) doing, and for what he was going to do. The Uchiha prodigy laid limp and lifeless like the little doll lying in his bed while Fugaku rained blows upon him. He paid them no mind though, instead focusing on how grateful he was to have accidentally put his pure, innocent sibling under before this travesty occurred. Thought after thought that rushed through his head was of the younger, rather than the beating, and how differently things would have been if he had just lied to the boy as he had been taught to do.

Sasuke awoke the next morning to find his beloved marred terribly with deep purple bruises. And when he desperately and incessantly inquired as to how they came to be, Itachi repeatedly told the boy that he had a training accident. It wasn't easy lying to his dear younger sibling.

And when he splattered the blood of their parents across his brother's face, he told the child that it was all for selfish reasons. It wasn't easy then, either.

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><p>Oh goodness! I'm so sorry for the rushedalternate ending! It will be rewritten very soon (after finals), when I have the proper amount of time to obsess and give it all the love and attention it deserves. Again, I'm so sorry and thanks for reading! Suggestions are very much welcomed and appreciated.


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